


Feel

by Okadiah



Series: Good Morning Arcadia Oaks! [5]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, soft and intimate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:13:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23810614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Okadiah/pseuds/Okadiah
Summary: After a long and difficult shift at the hospital, Barbara comes home depressed and missing Jim. Thankfully Walter is there to comfort her.
Relationships: Barbara Lake/Walter Strickler | Stricklander
Series: Good Morning Arcadia Oaks! [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689643
Comments: 22
Kudos: 77





	Feel

**Author's Note:**

> Another of those pieces I started forever ago and am now just getting to. Originally I wanted this to be a sister piece to Touch, and I wanted it to be explicit, but in the end, it was strong enough to stand on its own and the smut just didn't present itself (*shrugs* what can you do?)
> 
> Anyway, it's soft and sweet and I hope you enjoy!

It had been a long day for Barbara Lake. And it wasn’t because of trolls or babies or Jim or Walt or anything like that. It had just been one of those days at the hospital. A heavy day when bad things big and small just kept happening, stacking on top of each other one right after the other.

Barbara hadn’t been home in almost forty-eight hours. She’d lost three patients. Her body ached. She’d gone so long without food that she’d run the familiar gauntlet of being hungry, holding out long enough that the hunger had faded, then at the first opportunity mechanically walking to the staff fridge to get the food Jim always prepared for her whenever she had long shifts like these.

Only, it hadn’t been there. And she’d remembered. And the stress and the hunger and the fact that for a moment she’d _forgotten_ that Jim wasn’t here anymore — that she missed him so much — it had made the stress that much harder. And in a day she’d have to do this all over again.

Barbara only had energy enough to come home, press a weak kiss to Wally and Nomi’s heads and Walt’s warm cheek before she’d collapsed into bed at six in the morning.

She didn’t wake up until the sounds of evening crickets roused her, and even then, she didn’t want to get up. Didn’t want to move. A warm touch on her brow slid up and over the crown of her head and she peered blearily in the dark.

“It’s me,” Walter said quietly, his eyes a gentle glow. “I’m just checking on you. Go back to sleep.”

“What time is it?” she slurred, rubbing her eyes before squinting at the numbers on the clock until they made some blurry sense. Alarm raced through her. “Oh, my god, it’s so late. I’m sorry Walt, I didn’t mean to sleep the day away—”

“It’s all right, Barbara,” he said soothingly, pressing her down before she could get up. “The children are fine and asleep, and the house is still in one piece. You haven’t missed a thing.”

“But it’s supposed to be my day off. We were supposed to go out, and—”

“And you got sleep you desperately needed,” Walt said. “Don’t worry, there will be other times. You need to take care of yourself.” The former Changeling pressed a soft kiss to her brow. “Rest. It’s all right.”

“No, it’s not,” she insisted, the insidious slide of anxiety pressing at her. The sleep should have helped, should have wiped away some of her ache and loneliness and depression, but it hadn’t. It felt worse and made her insecurities press that much harder to overcome. “Jim’s father left me because I didn’t make time for him. I’m not going to make the same mistake with you—”

Smooth stone hands slid around her shoulders, and they were warm and firm and more soothing than she could possibly put in words. She fell silent, staring at his blurry form in the darkness, waiting for judgment. Waiting for Walt to say something, anything.

“I am not your ex-husband, Barbara,” Walt said softly, his thumbs pressing circles into her shoulders. “And you can never make a mistake in my eyes.”

Her lip wobbled and her eyes watered, and Barbara dropped her eyes into a hand before nodding and giving him a weak smile.

“Thanks, Walt,” she whispered.

“No thanks necessary,” he promised in that gentle tone that meant the world to her. He dropped his hands from her shoulders and shifted away, leaving. “Take all the rest you need Barbara. If you need me, I’ll be downstairs.”

An abrupt amalgam of emotion surged into her chest, and before she realized it her hand wrapped around his stone wrist.

“Wait.”

Walt paused but she didn’t let go. She was so tired after her long and difficult shift, after missing Jim so badly, after _everything_. Her body was sore, her head hurt, her heart ached, and Walt was _here_.

And she didn’t want to be alone.

“Stay with me, please,” Barbara said, sighing as she pressed her brow into his shoulder and closed her eyes. His skin might be harder than a human’s and strange feeling as it pressed against her own, but he was so warm too. Inviting and soothing and everything she wanted at the moment. “Not for … for anything like that — not that I wouldn’t want to, I mean! I’m just so tired, Walt, and I don’t want to be alone and I miss Jim, and—”

A warm hand curled around the back of her head as another wrapped around her body, holding her. Pinning down her spinning thoughts and replacing it with quiet stability.

“No need to explain. I understand,” Walt said before he pulled away to catch her eyes. “I’m here for you, Barbara.” His smile widened but not unkindly. “However you want me.”

A faint, tired chuckle slipped out of her as she wilted into another hug before allowing Walt to guide her back to bed. While they’d cuddled and been physical a time or two when he’d had a human form, they hadn’t been this close since the night he’d let her study him.

And it was different, definitely different. Walt was living stone now, and heavier by a lot. The firm planes of his body pressed against hers and she noticed he was gentle about everything. He had to be, or he might accidentally bruise her or cut off circulation to various limbs. Walt was not terribly soft, and although she pillowed her head on his arm, it wasn’t human and yielding.

But drained as she was, none of that mattered. Walt was here. He was warm and solid, and he held her like he never wanted to let her go. The soothing and fascinating microsounds of the stone of his body crackling and settle with every breath undercut everything and quieted every thought in her mind.

Barbara dropped into blessed sleep faster than she had in years.

* * *

When consciousness next tugged her back into the land of the living, it was dark, the moon was bright in the window, and she had a crick in her neck. Groaning, she reached for a pillow, pulled it over the stone arm still in the same position it had been when she’d dropped off, and stuffed it into the hollow of Walt’s chest before snuggling closer in.

“Gonna invest in more pillows,” she mumbled into his chest as she curled an arm over his side and up under the crease of a stone wing. “Then I’m never leaving bed again.”

A chuckle slipped out of him and he curled her closer. A large nose nuzzled into her hair and she sighed contentedly. Barbara felt better now – not great, not by a mile – but better.

“Apologies for the unyielding state of my body,” Walt said, stroking her back. “It’s an easy thing to forget.”

“It’s fine,” she replied, luxuriating in his warmth. “Sorry if your arm is numb though.”

“It’s not actually, a handy trade-off I will admit.” His nose nuzzled lower and at the silent request, Barbara tilted her head upward so they see each other. “I can hold you like this forever.” Clawed fingers carded through her hair. “Are you feeling better?”

“A little,” she admitted. “I’m sorry about all of that earlier, though. A lot happened and I kind of just …”

“Just?” he prompted after a moment.

She gave him a small smile and stroked his cheek. “I just … needed you. Needed not to be alone.”

“I will always be here for you,” he promised, pressing closer, a wing curling over her like a living, weighted blanket. “Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“It was just a little thing,” Barbara sighed. “Or a lot of things, but the thing that broke my back … well, it was a little thing. It was lunch.”

“Lunch?” Walt echoed, confusion making his eyes grow brighter as his brow furrowed. “Forgive me, my dear, but I don’t understand.”

“It was just a long shift, a lot had happened and I was hungry. I wasn’t really thinking, I had so much on my mind, but when I went to get my lunch from the staff room, it wasn’t there.”

Walt stared at her for a moment, and she could all but hear the gears working in his head. Then his eyes widened with awareness.

“I recall Jim once mentioning he made meals for you.”

Barbara smiled sadly. “He always made meals for me. He is … was the cook in our little family, and with me being so busy he always took it upon himself to make me a home-cooked meal, especially for my on-call shifts.” Barbara’s gaze dropped and she idly stroked Walter’s back. “This time I reached for the lunch that was always there and I just … forgot.” Her eyes burned slightly with tears. “It wasn’t there.”

“And you miss him,” Walter said softly.

“I miss him all the time,” she said, her voice wavering. “There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish he was back home, even though I’m so proud of who he’s become, and I know he has his own life to live. It’s helped that you’ve been here and that there’s Wally and Nomi and work, but … I guess it just caught up to me now that things have kind of reached a normal.”

Walter pressed his brow against hers, his gaze soft.

“You’re his mother. That sounds like a reasonable, natural response to have. Certainly nothing to be ashamed of.”

“I know,” she replied. “It’s just, we’ve been so busy with getting everything back to a normal that, I don’t know, sometimes it feels like I can’t take the time. That I have to be on top of my game and put together constantly, or I’ll make everyone worry. Walt, Jim _needs_ me to be okay. I don’t want to distract him.”

The changeling was quiet for a moment. “If I may? You are his parent and I am … well, a lot of things to him that were and were not nearly as virtuous. But perhaps I might offer an opinion?”

She arched a brow, both curious and hesitant. The relationship between her son and Walter was convoluted as their own relationship. But when push came to shove, she knew beyond a doubt that he cared about Jim just as much as he cared about her.

“He is the Trollhunter. And he does have a great deal of responsibility on his shoulders,” Walt said. “But above all, you are his mother and the one person in the world who has always been there for him. He loves you. I believe he would be more worried if you did not reach out to him.” His wing tightened around her. “It would not surprise me if he is thinking the same about you.”

Barbara couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at her lips because she could imagine exactly that. She and Jim were always there for each other, and also always trying to protect each other. If she was feeling this way, it was entirely possible he was too.

“You’re probably right,” she said. “I should give him a call in the morning. Check on him again. It would be good to hear his voice.”

“And I’m sure he would love to hear yours,” Walter added tenderly.

“You’ve become quite the experts on us Lakes, haven’t you?”

Walter snorted before curling her closer. “You’ve both become quite a large part of my life, I must admit. And I cared about Jim even before he became the Trollhunter. Both of your happiness means a great deal to me.”

The tight warmth which always lingered in Barbara’s chest when she thought of Walt compounded, and if she hadn’t loved him before that, there was no way she couldn’t now.

Her hand slid up his back and she held him to her.

“I’m so glad you saw the error of your ways.”

“And for that,” he said with a proud smile. “I have you to eternally thank.”

“And the threat of Rule Three.”

Walt snorted. “Naturally. I endeavor never to do anything which would result in the use of Rule Three.”

“You’re doing a good job of it,” Barbara said, her smile wider and stronger.

“I am working _very_ hard.”

Barbara chuckled and the dark miasma that had settled on her earlier lifted, blown away by Walter’s steady care and love. They’d had their rough patches, and she didn’t doubt that they’d have some in the future too.

But right now? She couldn’t imagine a future where they didn’t manage to work through them. Walt might make troubling decisions when pressed, but there was no doubt that at the end of the day his heart was now in the right place.

And she hoped to keep it there for as long as she could.

“Thank you,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d have done without you, Walter.”

“I’m sure you’d have come out of it,” Walt said. “You and Jim always reach out to each other in the end—”

“I’m not talking about that,” Barbara corrected. “Well, not only about that. I’m talking about … everything. The familiars, the trolls, Arcadia Oaks, helping Jim, being with me, all of it. I know I could have done it on my own.” She held him tight. “But I’m glad I didn’t have to.”

“Barbara,” he said, her name almost whispered. “I’m the one who should be thanking you. I would not have become who I am now without you.”

She suspected for whatever reason it was the truth. Her eyes dropped to his lips, then back up to the shuttered glow of his eyes.

“Do you like who you’ve become?”

“Very much,” he admitted, leaning closer and Barbara closed the distance. This was still a new sensation, at least for her, but she found the more she kissed Walter’s trollish lips the more normal it became. The more she enjoyed it.

And judging from the low groan he gave her, he felt the same.

When they at last pulled apart, she found she’d at some point managed to straddle his waist, and she luxuriated in the radiant warmth. It was like curling up on top of sun-warmed stone, and with her depression finally releasing itself, she couldn’t help but indulge and appreciate.

“You’re going to be amazing to have around during winter,” Barbara teased, drawing her fingers along his chest. “I might not even have to unpack my electric blanket.”

“Happy to provide whatever service you might need,” he said, and an edge of self-indulgent pride graced his eyes, her cheeky Walt making an appearance. His hands slid up the length of her thighs. “Any service at all. Whenever you like.”

“Oh, any service?” she said, propping her elbow on his chest to rest her chin on her palm. Barbara smirked. “You’ll have to tell me about these services. They weren’t in the brochure.”

“I’ll be happy to tell you all about them,” he replied with a smirk of his own, and a shiver trailed down her spine as the tips of his wings brushed along her shoulders and back. “It might take some time.”

A squint at the clock made her smile. “Well, we’ve got a few hours before dawn. You think you can ‘tell me all about them’ by then?”

“Absolutely not,” Walter replied before he simultaneously leaned up and urged her shoulders down with his wings, pressing them together. “But I could cover one or two ‘services’, I believe.”

“You’ll have to be thorough,” she murmured, her lips brushing against his as her lids drooped lower and her body heated. “I like to be well informed.”

“I shall do my best,” he replied. “But should you like me to repeat, well, I have no problems with that either. Besides. I believe you have some intellectual curiosities you wished to explore.”

“You, Walter Strickler, are too tempting,” Barbara said, pressing against him. “And so good to me.”

The changeling sighed against her lips. “Only the best for you.”

She gasped, then moaned into the kiss as Walter suddenly rolled them over. His wings draped around them, making it seem as if there was nothing else in the world except them and the certainty that she’d never been so loved and cared for than she was right now.

* * *

When Barbara awoke next she felt revived, if a little scuffed and sore but definitely in a good way. Walt wasn’t there, but she could hear his voice beyond the door as he spoke to the babies and made what could only be waffles if she had to judge by the scent in the air. It made her smile. He knew waffles were her favorites.

After showering and dressing, and generally preparing herself for the next long shift she knew was ahead of her, she trailed down the stairs before sweeping up little Wally and Nomi from their playpen.

“Hello, you two,” she cooed before blowing raspberries into Wally’s neck and making him erupt into peals of laughter before doing the same to Nomi. “I’m sorry I’ve been gone so much. I’ve missed you both. I hope you’ve been good for Walt while I’ve been gone?”

“As always, Wally remains the perfect child,” Walter said, placing a healthy stack of waffles smothered in fruits and syrup on the table in front of her before pecking her on the lips. “Nomi on the other hand.”

The little girl babbled, reaching for Walt. He sighed before taking her. “We’re not going to yank on my hair this morning again, are we?”

While Barbara put Wally in his highchair, Nomi let out a wail of laughter and a groan from Walt followed as he carefully disentangled little fingers before putting the girl in her highchair. As she ate breakfast and Walter fed the kids theirs, she couldn’t help but smile at the domestic scene. A troll in her house feeding a pair of infants who didn’t even bat an eye at him. He was even making silly faces to get them to eat.

She couldn’t help but let a secret smile cross her lips as she watched, charmed and chest full of warm, tender love, and a physical satisfaction she hadn’t felt in some time.

Barbara finished sooner than Walt with the kids did so she cleaned up and prepared to go. By the time she was ready to leave, Walter had the babies settled in the playpen where a gnome was eagerly waiting to entertain them. She dropped a kiss on their heads, promising to be back later, and as she turned around, she found Walter waiting for her by the door.

In his hand was a Tupperware container.

“I know I’m not Jim, and I know how hard it is sometimes for you,” Walter said before he wrapped her hand around the container of food. “But I don’t want you to ever forget that I’m here for you, Barbara.”

She smiled at him. “You’re making it very difficult for me to forget.”

His strange, troll eyes filled with pride, and he puffed up ever so slightly. “Good.”

Barbara chuckled at him before slipping a hand behind his neck and pulling him down into a kiss. Shamelessly she let it linger, indulging while she could as she pressed against the now-familiar line of his body. Already she couldn’t wait to come back home.

“See you later, handsome,” she said with a grin when she pulled away, pleased with the dazed look she’d left him with. It didn’t last long, however, and a tempting look replaced it. A clawed hand curled around her waist.

“Perhaps I could convince you to stay home instead?”

“Play hooky? You are too tempting,” she said before pecking his lips again and stepping away. Walt chuckled but opened the door for her anyway, even if his hand lingered to the very last moment.

It was nothing compared to the warm love rooted deep in her heart, and no matter what the day might throw at her, she knew she always had that to come back home to.

But before that day could start, she pulled out her phone and selected the first name on her favorites list. The line beeped once, and to her relief and delight, Jim’s voice pulled through.

“Good morning, Mom,” Jim said, voice young and bright and warm, everything she loved and missed. “I was just thinking about you.”

“I was thinking about you too, Sweetie,” she said as she got into her car. “Everything going well in New Jersey?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” her son said before adding, “A little boring right now, but it’s okay. Looking forward to a visit home though. I think I’m getting a little homesick. I miss you. I hope you know that.”

Barbara’s eyes watered but she smiled all the same. Walter was right.

“I miss you more than you can begin to imagine,” she told him. “And I can’t wait for you to come home. But until then, tell me about your day. Any big plans coming up?”

As she drove to work, she listened to her son explain the intricacies of the new Heartstone he didn’t quite understand no matter how many times Blinky explained it and how Nomura was reading baby books in her free time and how weird that was. Barbara couldn’t help but smile as she felt her world settle back into its new kind of normal.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this intimate little Stricklake piece! I love them so much, they are adorable <3
> 
> Anyway, keep an eye out for more pieces for the series. I try to post one each week and there are still a few more left. Till next time :]


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